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KIN Admiral Togo
The KIN Admiral Togo is a cruiser that is in service in the AIF and AFOH. Originally to be a member of the Admiral Yamamoto class, she was completed to a standard that allowed her to be known as her own class. She served throughout the KISDF and KIN history, along with Admiral Yamamoto and Admiral Von Tirpitz. Despite modernisation, she was considered outdated by new warships, but while the modern KISDF fleet was scuttled, she became the temporary flagship of the KISDF until enough ships were raised and repaired. She currently serves as a cruiser for the AFOH in the Second Cruiser Division and a part time ceremonial ship in the AIF. History At the time both ships were built, the KIN navy was a navy focused on battleships, battlecruisers and carriers. Little attention was paid to cruisers, destroyers and fast attack craft, though limited funds were spent wisely on submarines to scout for enemy fleets, as well as sinking enermy merchant ships. However, as time when on, new warships were needed to escort the new breed of carriers, while the battleships were fighting in the battle line. Thus the idea of a cruiser was born. But the navy had strict expectations. The new ships were to be heavily armed to deal with other enermy cruisers, and fast enough to catch up to carrier fleets. This started with the Admiral Yamamoto class of cruisers, which proved to be good enough to do the job. However, Khoi Tran believed there was room for improvement. He had studied the previous cruisers, and tried to find ways to increase the armour protection for the ship. He also believed that the AAA firepower was inadequate for the role, which was proven correct. So the originally third ship of the class was redesigned to fit the new demands, enough to become her own class of vessel. This was the future Admiral Togo. Design Hull Admiral Togo was longer and beamier than the Admiral Yamamoto class, though only by a little. She had a length of 295 metres, and a beam of 45 metres. Like her predecessors, she had torpedo bulges added in her rebuild, and when she became the flagship of the KISDF, an emblem at the front was added. Armament Her key distinguishing feature is her firepower. She was armed with the same 2 46 cm triple turrets, but they were all placed forward of the superstructure. This left a huge blind arc at the stern, where her main battery could not fire. During her rebuild, her 46 cm guns were upgraded to a newer version. Her secondary battery included 3 40 cm triple turrets all facing the rear. This again left a blind arc, but it was hoped that the main battery could make up for this. She also received 8 30.5 cm guns, 14 4 cm guns, 8 Triple AAA guns and 2 Type A Torpedo Tubes. During her rebuild, and additional 4 AAA guns, 2 Triple Torpedo Tubes and 8 30.5 cm guns were added to further increase her firepower. Armour Armour protection on the Admiral Togo was similar to that of the Admiral Yamamoto class, though the armoured belt was shorter due to placement of guns. She had a belt of 600 mm armour with 400 mm else where, but a full 400 mm armoured deck from the beginning of her life. Overal, she had superior protection than the previous Admiral Yamamoto class, but still was not enough to bring her to modern standards. Durng her rebuild, her deck armour was improved with some areas covered with 600 mm armour, improving her protection against bombs. She also received more armour around the superstructure to protect the crew in it. Service Like her predecessors, Admiral Togo would spend most of her time escorting carriers. She did a good job at it, but her big guns were of little value in this role. So she started to also take in shore bombardment, a role she would prove good at. Her high speeds also allowed her to effectively scout for enemy fleets if carriers and submarines were not avaloable at the time. She also fired at some pirate ships, but because of the firepower the pirates withdrew. After the conflict, and when the modern KISDF was formed, Admiral Togo was relegated to second line duties along with Admiral Yamamoto. She was used to train crewmen on how to operate big gun warships, and on how to torpedo moving targets. She also patroledd the seas and made scouting and raiding missions, but never played any meaningful contributions. Like the two Admiral Yamamoto class cruisers however, she was pressed to front line duties while the KISDF raised their ships, which had been scuttled. She served as the flagship, gaining the famous emblem on her bow. She continedd in her new roles until enough ships were raised. After that, she was placed as an ceremonial ship in the AIF, along with the battleship Kongo, but it was soon decided to hand her over to the AFOH as a cruiser in the Second Cruiser Division, where she is serving now.Category:AIF shipsCategory:Vessel Classes by Khoi Tran Category:Cruisers